No Events Scheduled for 2024

No Events Scheduled for 2024

Team Fishing Circuit
2023 TEAM BASS OPEN RULES – Updates made for FALL Events

Rules Preface: Any penalty or decision of, assessed to an angler will result in a ruling for the entire team and the entire team will be subject to penalties. Each contestant agrees to these rules by signing the registration form.

Team Fishing Circuit events are two person team events. All Bass 2023 Fall events are set to a maximum of 60 teams who all fish on day one. On day two, the top 50% qualifying teams by top weights will enter TOP GUN, starting back at Zero. At the end of the day, a NEW TOP GUN TEAM WILL BE CROWNED.

1. INTERPRETATION & ENFORCEMENT
Interpretation and enforcement of these rules will be left exclusively to CAST PRODUCTIONS LLC dba Team Fishing Circuit.
Decisions of the tournament director are final in all matters and are not subject to appeal.
Each contestant agrees to report any rule violation to the tournament director immediately upon discovery of the violation. Failure to report violations by captain or co-angler may be cause for disqualification.
Any violation of a tournament rule may result in loss of weight for the entire day leading to disqualification from the entire tournament, cash and prizes, and potential ineligibility to participate in future Team Fishing Circuit tournaments.
Protests and/or alleged rule violations are to be made in writing by the witness within 15 minutes of the check-in time. Team Fishing Circuit reserves the right to consider rule violations reported or discovered after a tournament has ended and assess penalties for future events, including denying entry to compete.
Anglers will be subject to polygraphs.

2. PAYBACK & PARTICIPATION
Payback is based on the number of paid entries for each tournament. Winnings will be split evenly between the teammates and paid via check for all placings even for Big Bass. On Top Gun day only 1 Trophy will be given for Big Bass to the Team that scored it but the money will be split between the two.
We request that you deposit the winning check within 30 days.
All cash paybacks, once determined by the officials, WILL be final, no exceptions. W9’s are required at awards ceremony on TOP GUN day if receiving $600 or greater in winnings.
If a second check needs to be issued to a winner because something has happened to it, there will be a $40 charge to the angler for us having to void it and reissue it.
Any person under the age of 18 (19 in Alabama and Nebraska) entering a tournament must also have the signature of a parent or legal guardian in the provided space on the entry form.
Partners are NOT drawn. You select your co-angler and register together.
Any person’s participation in any tournament is at the sole discretion of the Team Fishing Circuit officials.
Any person who, in the judgment of the tournament director, is disabled or handicapped as to unfairly hinder his or her pro or co-angler partner or compromise his or her safety or the safety of other competitors or the boating public may not be eligible to participate.
All contestants must have a valid fishing license for the waters they fish. Failure to provide proof of a valid fishing license when requested by the tournament director will result in disqualification of the event.

3. PAYMENT SCHEDULE
You will pay immediately after you submit your registration. Payments are made from our Registration page on our website, www.TeamFishingCircuit.com.

If paying by Credit Card, you will pay $575 to cover the service charge fee.
If paying by ACH, you will pay $550.
If paying after registration deadline, you will pay an additional $100.

In the case that the event does not receive an adequate amount of teams, the Team Captain will be refunded the entry fee they paid thus far via Check, regardless if paid by ACH or Credit Card. Processing fees when paying by Credit Card cannot be refunded.

Pre-Registration with a Deposit, New in 2023:
This option is available for registrations received approximately 2 months prior to event. Dates are noted on the payment page. Final Payments are due 14 days prior to event. See dates listed on Registration/Payment page. It is your responsibility to pay the 2nd payment by the due date.
Deposit/Payments are non-refundable, unless Team Fishing Circuit cancels the event due to not meeting minimum.

Credit Card Deposit: $288
Credit Card Final Pay: $288
*You can use a different credit card for the 2nd payment. 

ACH Deposit: $275
ACH Final Pay: $275
*You can use a different bank account for the 2nd payment. 

If paying with a deposit, mark the final payment due date on a Calendar. You are responsible for knowing this and paying for this on your own. 

4. INFORMATION SHARING
NO INFORMATION can be received or exchanged after the off-limits period of the lake which is 12:01am on event start date, and continuing THROUGH the entire event, unless a written exception is given to a team that doesn’t qualify on their fishing day and has another tournament to compete in or wants to help be a Camera Boat for Team Fishing Circuit. Acquiring information pertaining to any fishing elements is strictly prohibited and will be reason for both contestants to be disqualified from the entire tournament during Off-Limits period.
The sharing of tournament winnings with non-contestants in exchange for information about locating or catching fish on tournament waters is strictly prohibited and will be reason for disqualification of the team from the entire tournament.
No handheld GPS units. No Navionics on handheld devices.

5. OFF-LIMITS, PRACTICE & COMPETITION
5.1.
Off-limits period is the day before the entire event, i.e. If the event is from October 25-30, then the off-limits period begins October 25th at 12:01 am for all registered anglers no matter what day you are drawn to fish.
Contestants/Event Anglers may not enter tournament waters to locate fish, or potential fishing waters, or sightseeing, beginning the day before the start of the entire event.
Contestants/Event Anglers may not solicit and/or receive information about locating or catching fish on tournament waters from anyone except captains and co-anglers deemed to be teammates of same team, in said tournament during Off-limits period.
5.2.
During competition and practice days, contestants may not place brush or other physical fish attractors, including chum of any kind, into tournament waters.
During competition days, practice days and at Top Gun, contestants may not follow a non-contestant’s boat for the purpose of locating staged or marked spots, and, or participate in the placing of markers, brush and or other fish attractors by non-contestants including the practice of “hole sitting” by anyone.

6. LAUNCHING
All teams must have a boat check before launching on each tournament day. We do NOT check boats on the water. Teams will be released by tournament officials based on safe light or safe weather conditions. All entrants will proceed in an orderly ease out manner.
Boat check-in time will be given in your acknowledgment letter sent 2 weeks prior to event via email. Times will typically be 5:00am or 6:00am depending on calendar. You must be on time for boat check-in.

7. HOURS OF COMPETITION
Tournament fishing hours will run for 8 consecutive hours. Event 7am to 3pm. Live wells will be checked along with another FishDonkey app 5 minutes prior to Lines In.
All weighing will CEASE at the end of the 8th hour. You will have 30 minutes to return to the Team Fishing Circuit trailer. If you are late, you will be disqualified.
These times will be announced at each event in your acknowledgment letter and on our website. It will be the responsibility of the boat owner to know ALL rules. In this situation, there are NO EXCEPTIONS.

8. SPORTSMANSHIP
Un-sportsman-like conduct will not be tolerated, any violation of any angling laws and/or state laws in general will result in disqualification without refund.
The tournament official’s decision will be final. Common sense should BE THE RULE.
All teams on Top Gun day are asked to stay until the end of the Award Ceremony to support your fellow anglers, the sport, and the event. All teams must refrain from consuming any mind altering substances up until the Award Ceremony as Polygraph examiners are unable to test those that have consumed these items and not being able to be polygraphed will forfeit your winnings.

9. BOAT & HORSEPOWER SPECIFICATIONS
All boats must be propeller-driven, a minimum of 16 feet in length and have a rear deck (with a seat if requested). No jet type propulsion.
All boats must be equipped with wheel steering; no other steering device will be permitted.
No barges or similarly cumbersome craft will be permitted.
Each boat must have all required United States. Coast Guard safety equipment.
Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournament competition will be 300 horsepower, not to exceed the horsepower capacity set forth on the “BIA Maximum Capacities” placard located on the craft, generally in the driver cockpit area.
HP rating. All boats must conform to the BIA standard for the make and model being used at the time of the event. Your BIA plate is located near the control area of the boat, generally found close to your shifter.

10. INSURANCE
Liability insurance with coverage of not less than $100,000 per occurrence is required of all contestants in Team Fishing Circuit tournaments. Proof of insurance must be with the boat being used and must cover all passengers in the boat. Random checks will be conducted. Failure to provide proof of insurance when requested by the tournament director may result in disqualification.

11. LURE PRESENTATIONS
Artificial lures only. No live, dead, or prepared bait is allowed.
Fishing is defined as having a lure attached to a line and a rod and reel with the rod in hand.
All fish must be caught alive in a conventional sporting manner.
All lures must adhere to state regulations.
Only artificial lures may be used, with the exception of pork trailers and biodegradable soft baits.
Alabama rigs and similar umbrella-type rigs are limited to state regulations.
Only ONE fishing rod may be used at a time.
Trolling as a method of fishing is strictly prohibited. Trolling is defined as operating the combustion engine to extend a cast or lengthen a retrieve.
All fish caught while sight-fishing must be hooked inside the mouth.

12. BASS / SUB SPECIES
Approved species seeing there are many noted sub species in many systems.
Alabama bass, Florida bass, Guadalupe bass, largemouth bass, shoal bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, Suwannee bass and Mean Mouth bass will be allowed and may be scored at a minimum of 1.5 pounds.
ALL fish must be released immediately after video recorded and weighed.
Miss handling fish WILL result in disqualification.
Must be caught ALIVE during the approved tournament hours on your scheduled fishing day. Dead fish will not be scored.
This is an unlimited catch event.

13. TOURNAMENT DELAYS
It is at the discretion of the Tournament Director to postpone or cancel an event due to adverse weather. In such a case, the teams affected will join the teams for the next day or fish at a rescheduled event.

14. TIE BREAKING
In the event of a tie, for any position, the cash prizes for that position and the next position will be combined and distributed equally among the tied teams. Trophies will be decided with a coin flip by the boat owners.
In the event of a tie on a qualifying day, the decision will be made by the largest fish.

15. ILLEGAL CONTRABANS
No alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs may be consumed or in possession of any competitor or boat during the tournament hours.

16. ANGLER SAFE SPACE
No fishing allowed within 100 feet of another boat. The decision of such a violation will be decided by the officials occupying the team boats and the tournament director. Decisions of this infraction will be FINAL and result in a disqualification of the offending team.

17. PROTESTS
ALL decisions of the Tournament Officials are final. Protests will be allowed up to 15 minutes after the closing seconds of the event. A $400.00 cash deposit must be paid and will be refunded if the protest stands.

18. FUEL / ONWATER NEEDS
Competitors may obtain fuel and/or repairs from marinas, however, they WILL NOT LEAVE THEIR BOAT AS A RESULT.

19. DISQUALIFICATION
Any team disqualified for any reason will not receive a refund of entry fees.

20. TAXES
All State, Local, Federal, and/or other taxes, or other fees for prizes awarded become the sole responsibility of the winner. All those who win a prize or prizes valued $600 or more in any given year will be issued an IRS Form 1099 to report their winnings and all winners must submit an IRS Form W-9 to Team Fishing Circuit to claim prize.
CAST PRODUCTIONS LLC dba Team Fishing Circuit will hold NO liability or responsibility in ANY case regarding taxes or claiming income for the purpose of tax filing.
Nonresidents of the United States:
Team Fishing Circuit is obligated to withhold 30% of cash winnings for $1200 and greater for non-us residents.

21. FISHDONKEY APP
All qualifying fish will be video recorded via the FishDonkey app. This is a user-friendly, secure app. Only one angler per team will sign up in the app on their SMARTPHONE as a Team and pay at that time through the app, Cost is $10, once you receive your acknowledgment letter 2 weeks prior to tournament. Five (5) minutes before lines-in, you will be required to record your live well to show that it is empty. Teams will still be boat checked prior to departure by Team Fishing Circuit.

When your partner catches a bass,
-They will grasp the scale and turn it on, which should automatically zero out the scale
-Start the recording to show the scale at zero
-Partner then puts the fish on the scale gripper
-Once the scale has steadied you call out the weight while on camera, focused on the scale weight and then the fish from head to tail. 1.5 Pounds minimum to score.
-Upon indicating the weight, vocally & visually through video, the angler can then remove the fish and return that fish back to the resource while being recorded by video through the app.
This entire process MUST be followed completely or the fish will not be included in the teams score. No EXCEPTIONS!
Teams have 30 seconds to record the video. If you run out of time, teams can hit the record button again and make a second video. Both videos will upload when you hit checkmark. There is NO way to upload photos or videos from your phone and is all done through the app. You will be able to see your ranking throughout the day. Teams in area’s with bad service will need to click their digital livewell to ensure all fish are uploaded when they get in an area with better service. 
ONE angler per team will register on the app called FishDonkey and once in, click on the person in the upper right corner and update the name to reflect both of your full names. 
Teams will make sure their scale is set to Pounds. Decimal points also known as a period, must be entered (Example: 2.25). 
Watch video on our Bass Scoring page to learn more. 
Those that qualify for Top Gun will need to pay the $10 fee to utilize the app that day. This is new in 2023 as the amount of videos utilized with this app can be overwhelming to the system.

PRACTICING IS REQUIRED ON THE FISHDONKEY APP. Practice instructions will be provided to you in your acknowledgment letter.

22. PERSONAL FLOATATION DEVICES
Personal floatation devices must be worn at all times while the combustion engine is running and kill switch must be attached to the driver.

23. WEIGHING FISH
All fish will be weighed and video documented via the FishDonkey app at a 1.5 lb minimum to score. See rule 21.

24. EMERGENCY SITUATION
In the case of an emergency situation, call 911 but if able, also contact us at 952-999-0784.

25. POLYGRAPH
NO SOLICITING of information beginning at 12:01am the day of event start date and through the duration of the event. Anglers are subject to a polygraph test. Sharing of event fishing locations during the event is prohibited. Polygraph/Lie Detector exams will be administered at each event randomly. Each Participant who fishes Team Fishing Circuit events also agrees to submit to a polygraph examination following the competition upon a request from the Tournament Director. The polygraph examination will be conducted at a time and location determined by the Tournament Director. Failure to pass a polygraph examination, as determined by the examination administrator, will result in disqualification, no prize or cash awards. Information related to any potential fraud will be shared with appropriate law enforcement authorities for determination of whether any state or federal offenses have been committed regarding any prize winnings for these tournaments.

26. NETS
Hand held nets will be allowed with a strong preference for rubber and/or coated material.

27. RODS
Only one rod per angler can be in use at any given time.

28. LONG LINING
No Long Lining.

29. LOCKING
No Locking.

30. TROLLING
No trolling with combustion engine or trolling motor will be allowed.

31. PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
All materials derived from the event become the sole property of CAST PRODUCTIONS LLC dba Team Fishing Circuit.

32. BIG BASS
Big Bass for fall events are included in the entry fee. 

33. QUESTIONS
If you have any questions speak up BEFORE the tournament.

34. COVENANT NOT TO SUE & WAIVER OF SUBROGATION
I agree that I will not sue CAST PRODUCTIONS LLC dba Team Fishing Circuit, or any parties related to the event, et al for damages on account of any negligence causing injury, death, or damage I suffer or cause whether known now or which may develop in the future. In the event a claim is made against CAST PRODUCTIONS LLC dba Team Fishing Circuit et al on account of my negligence, actions, or omissions, I expressly agree to indemnify and hold CAST PRODUCTIONS LLC dba Team Fishing Circuit et al harmless from any liability whatsoever, including court costs and attorney’s fee, arising with respect to such actions. I understand that by signing my entry form and entering said events I am waiving my rights to sue CAST PRODUCTIONS LLC dba Team Fishing Circuit, et al I am also waiving the rights of recovery from CAST PRODUCTIONS LLC dba Team Fishing Circuit, et al of my insurance carrier for any claims they may pay on my behalf.

Watch 7 Minute video for format and app information. Click Here!